[Arm-netbook] Hacking the Mele A1000 - ultra beginner guide

[julien at forgeat.name]

Received the USB TTL Serial/UART module :-)

As Alejandro stated, the 2.54mm cable connectors do not fit, we can at 
most fir two out of 4, maybe 3 but that would be risking breaking 
something ^^

But then, I have been thinking:
  (1) the 3.3V Vcc is apparently not always needed (is it only if the 
cables are very long?)
  (2) 2 cables fit in the connector
  (3) We should be able to get ground from somewhere else on the board

So is it dangerous the connect Rx and Tx on the UART port, Ground on 
the USB port and not to connect Vcc (or why not, get Vcc from the USB 
port)?

I am eager to try but I am afraid to fry something up

Cheers,

Julien

On Thu, 22 Mar 2012 11:47:04 +0800, julien at forgeat.name wrote:
> Dear All,
>
> Lots of valuable answers there, let's wrap up on the UART port:
>   - Important notice: 2.54mm connectors do not fit in the port, there 
> is
> a good chance that 2mm connectors fit though (Thanks Alejandro)
>   - What is required is a USB TTL Serial/UART 3.3V cable (or board).
> This can be obtained in either of the following ways:
>     - get a board that does Serial to USB conversion @ 3.3V, most of 
> the
> boards I looked up both worked with 5V and 3.3V
>     - get a Nokia (old) data cable [1] which is basically the same 
> thing
> but might only work @3.3V and requires a little more work to connect 
> to
> the UART. (Thanks Oliver, A1bert and Henrik)
>
> I went for the first option and ordered a board [2] and a 2.54mm to 
> 2mm
> cables [3] (could not find a shop having both :-( )
>
> Julien
>
> [1]
> 
> http://www.dealextreme.com/p/usb-cable-for-nokia-n1200-1208-1650-2630-2670-13638
> [2] http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=12750141688
> [3] http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=14496696266
>
>
> On Wed, 21 Mar 2012 18:54:18 +0100, Henrik Nordström wrote:
>> ons 2012-03-21 klockan 22:23 +0800 skrev julien at forgeat.name:
>>
>>> So let's see if this will fly, I am blocked at the very beginning:
>>> an
>>> UART to serial, or as I understand, UART to serial to USB cable is
>>> required, is this what I should purchase?
>>>   -
>>>
>>> 
>>> http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=13235232319&prt=1332338469175&prc=1
>>> Same question to connect the internal USB to external computer,
>>> except
>>> that for this one, I do not even have a link as I have no idea how
>>> it is
>>> called.
>>
>> That looks like a reasonable choice.
>>
>> Another slightly cheaper one a the same site is
>>
>> 
>> http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=12750141688&is_b=1&cat_id=2&key_words=ttl+usb&spm=1008.1000032.1000012.4
>>
>> What you need to look for is USB TTL Serial/UART 3.3V.
>>
>> The one you found is capable of both 3.3V and 5.0V.
>>
>> There is very many similar ones. I usually use FTDI based cables 
>> like
>> these
>> http://www.ftdichip.com/Products/Cables/USBTTLSerial.htm
>> or
>> http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9717
>>
>>
>> Or if I want to permanenty add an USB UART port then an UB232R 
>> module
>> or
>> similar which I mount inside the device with just a hole for 
>> mini-usb
>> connector.
>>
>> http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9873
>> http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=13235232319
>>
>> Regards
>> Henrik
>>
>>
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